April 2002 | Mexican Riviera Cruise – Los Angeles, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and Cabo San Lucas
Elation (Carnival Cruise Line) was our ship for a seven-night Mexican Riviera cruise roundtrip from Los Angeles in April 2002, calling at Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and Cabo San Lucas. Built by Kværner Masa-Yards in Finland, she entered service in 1998 as the seventh Fantasy-class ship. Our photographs feature the ship and destinations during her original West Coast deployment, four years into her cruising career.
In April 2002, we sailed aboard Elation on a seven-night Mexican Riviera cruise roundtrip from Los Angeles. Our voyage took us south along Mexico’s Pacific coast, calling at Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and Cabo San Lucas before returning to Southern California. The photographs in this collection feature our ship and the destinations along that route, including Elation in Mazatlán during the cruise.
Built by Kværner Masa-Yards in Finland, Elation entered service in 1998 as the seventh of Carnival’s eight Fantasy-class ships. She was also the first cruise ship equipped with ABB’s Azipod propulsion, giving her a technical distinction within a class whose earlier members used conventional propeller shafts and rudders. Our cruise took place about four years after her introduction, during her original deployment on the West Coast.
The ship sailed under the name Elation at the time of our cruise, before becoming Carnival Elation in 2007. This gallery preserves that earlier chapter of her career, when seven-night sailings from Los Angeles connected Southern California with three established Mexican Riviera ports. Our separate San Diego gallery, photographed on July 24, 2009, adds a later occasion to our history with the same ship.
Information List
Name during Our Cruise: Elation
Later Name: Carnival Elation
Operator: Carnival Cruise Line
Type: Cruise ship
Class: Fantasy class
Position in Class: Seventh of eight ships
Builder: Kværner Masa-Yards, Finland
Entered Service: 1998
Published Tonnage during This Period: About 70,000 GT
Length Overall: About 855 feet / 260.6 meters
Published Passenger Capacity during This Period: 2,052
Propulsion: Diesel-electric with two ABB Azipod units
Propulsion Motor Output: Two 14-megawatt units
Technical Distinction: First cruise ship equipped with Azipod propulsion
IMO Number: 9118721
Country of Registry: Panama
Our Cruise: Seven-night Mexican Riviera cruise
Cruise Date: April 2002
Departure and Return Port: Los Angeles, California
Ports of Call: Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Photographic Coverage: The ship and destinations during our cruise
Personal Connection: A ship we sailed aboard
Related Gallery: San Diego, July 24, 2009
History and Features
Construction and Entry into Service:
Kværner Masa-Yards built Elation in Finland for Carnival.
The ship entered passenger service in 1998 as the seventh member of the Fantasy class.
Her introduction followed Inspiration and preceded the final ship in the series, Paradise.
She joined the fleet during a decade in which Carnival expanded through a succession of purpose-built passenger ships.
By our April 2002 cruise, Elation had been in service for about four years.
The Fantasy Class:
Eight Fantasy-class ships entered service between 1990 and 1998.
The series began with Fantasy and established a common design used across much of Carnival’s fleet.
Large interior public rooms, passenger accommodation and open recreation decks were central to the layout.
The ships could operate a variety of cruise lengths while retaining a familiar arrangement of dining and entertainment spaces.
Elation and Paradise, the final two members, introduced a different propulsion arrangement within that shared design.
Azipod Propulsion:
Elation became the first cruise ship equipped with ABB’s Azipod propulsion when she entered service in 1998.
Two pods mounted beneath the stern combined electric propulsion motors with steerable propellers.
Each unit contained a 14-megawatt motor and could rotate to direct the ship’s thrust.
This arrangement replaced the conventional shaft-and-rudder system used by the earlier Fantasy-class ships.
The installation became an important early application of technology subsequently adopted aboard many larger passenger vessels.
Shipboard Design and Public Spaces:
Elation’s interiors reflected Carnival’s theatrical approach to passenger-ship decoration during the 1990s.
A multideck atrium provided a central gathering space within the ship.
Dining rooms, lounges and entertainment venues were given individual decorative identities.
A main theater accommodated production shows and other performances.
Open decks and swimming pools provided outdoor spaces between the days spent exploring Mexican ports.
Original West Coast Service:
Elation began her career with a deployment to Southern California in 1998.
Carnival identifies her as its first newly built ship assigned to the West Coast.
Seven-night roundtrip Mexican Riviera cruises from Los Angeles became her regular programme.
Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and Cabo San Lucas formed the principal ports on that route.
Our April 2002 sailing took place during this original period of service from Los Angeles.
Our April 2002 Cruise:
We boarded Elation for a seven-night cruise roundtrip from Los Angeles.
The voyage combined time aboard the ship with calls at three Mexican Pacific ports.
Puerto Vallarta formed the southernmost destination on our route.
Mazatlán and Cabo San Lucas completed the Mexican port sequence before the return to California.
The cruise established the personal connection behind Elation’s inclusion in our Ships Traveled On collection.
Puerto Vallarta:
Puerto Vallarta was one of the three ports on our April 2002 itinerary.
The city lies beside Bahía de Banderas on Mexico’s Pacific coast.
Its waterfront, older streets and surrounding mountains give it a setting distinct from the other ports on the route.
For Elation, the call formed part of a regular weeklong itinerary linking Los Angeles with the Mexican Riviera.
Our time there was part of the same cruise featured throughout this collection.
Mazatlán:
Mazatlán was another destination during our seven-night voyage.
The city combines a working Pacific port with an established coastal tourism industry.
Photographs in this gallery include Elation in Mazatlán during our cruise.
The harbor setting places the passenger ship within an active commercial waterfront.
Although Mazatlán appears in the established page URL, the collection covers our broader Mexican Riviera cruise.
Cabo San Lucas:
Cabo San Lucas was the final Mexican port on our route before returning toward Los Angeles.
The destination lies at the southern end of the Baja California Peninsula.
Its coastline includes the rock formations around Land’s End and El Arco.
Cruise ships generally anchor offshore, with tender boats connecting them to the marina.
The call provided a different port experience from the larger working harbors elsewhere on the itinerary.
Later Service and the Carnival Elation Name:
Elation’s original West Coast programme continued beyond our April 2002 cruise.
The ship moved to Galveston in 2003 for a new period of Caribbean service.
A later return to Southern California brought year-round cruises from San Diego beginning in 2007.
During 2007, Carnival added its company name to the Fantasy-class ships, giving her the name Carnival Elation.
These later changes belong to the continuing history of the vessel we had sailed aboard under her original name.
Connection to Our 2009 San Diego Gallery:
Our July 24, 2009 photographs feature the ship in San Diego seven years after this cruise.
By then, she was operating under the name Carnival Elation.
Her San Diego programme emphasized shorter cruises, offering a different deployment from our seven-night voyage from Los Angeles.
The two galleries bring together our time aboard in 2002 and a later opportunity to photograph a familiar ship.
Within our collection, they show separate chapters of her service along the Pacific coast.
Legacy within Our Collection:
Our April 2002 photographs preserve Elation during the early years of her passenger career.
The voyage connects the Fantasy-class generation with Carnival’s longstanding Mexican Riviera operations.
Her Azipod installation adds a significant engineering milestone to that passenger-service history.
The ship and port photographs together reflect the experience of a seven-night cruise from Southern California.
This collection remains a personal account of our time aboard Elation, with the later San Diego photographs continuing the story.
OLP Social: Our April 2002 Mexican Riviera cruise sailed seven nights from Los Angeles, calling at Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and Cabo San Lucas before returning to California.
OLP Social 2: Built by Kværner Masa Yards in Finland, she entered service in 1998 as the seventh Fantasy class ship, joining a design already familiar across Carnival’s fleet.
OLP Social 3: At about 855 feet long and 70,000 gross tons, she brought the scale of Carnival’s Fantasy class to the West Coast, with open decks above a long white superstructure.
OLP Social 4: Her introduction brought Azipod propulsion to Carnival’s fleet, replacing traditional shaft driven propellers with steerable pods mounted beneath the stern.
